


The Needle Tears

by Beckon



Series: The Needle Tears / Saurian!AU [1]
Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Forehead Kisses, Guilt, Hiding, Holding Hands, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury Recovery, Interrealm War, Kissing, Massage, Neck Kissing, On the Run, Outworld, Paranoia, Past Torture, Permanent Injury, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prisoner of War, Recovery, Reminiscing, Saurian, Self-Blame, The Great Swamp, Trauma, dead pool - Freeform, forced hybrid, held captive, mild mention of being in Heat, reassurance, warmth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:08:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29473731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beckon/pseuds/Beckon
Summary: "You're nervous."Jade snapped out of her thoughts at the remark.She looked over as Kung Lao moved to join her, as he moved to stand next to her in front of the fire now.The orange flames conflicted with the green hue that had taken over his skin, that painted it underneath the dark scales that covered him from the neck down. The open cut of his shirt revealed one of few spots that had been left smooth, but now vulnerable without the protecting scales to cover it; and even then, it seemed pointless given that it was still a faded green shade.She could see the halo effect the fire created in his eyes as well.Yellow and split down the middle.
Relationships: Jade/Kung Lao
Series: The Needle Tears / Saurian!AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164908
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Needle Tears

**Author's Note:**

> Started floating this idea around so I could use it to celebrate pulling both Kung Lao and Jade's Saurian Kombat League skins from the meteor towers. The moment I saw those costumes, I knew I had to do something with them lol. Jade, I managed to pull within a month of trying, but Kung Lao took me almost two months to get- and of course, during that time frame, I was getting the Hanzo and Noob skins probably once a week. It was Hell. 
> 
> The idea came out a lot darker than I was anticipating, but I'm actually a fan of writing horror stuff- and I don't do it often enough. So I splurged a little bit with this one.

Peaceful sleep was eaten by the sound of footsteps, by the sound of water being disturbed by an unknown presence.

Jade felt a tremble of fear ripple through her body as she snapped awake at the noises.

She fought the instinct to move, to jump to her feet; instead, she held her breath and laid still in her bed.

She waited and listened, trying to hear if the sound repeated itself.

And in turn, she heard the footsteps as they continued to approach, growing louder with each one.

Pushing herself up now, Jade was careful not to draw a sound from the bedding underneath her as she slowly reached for the heavy curtain that fell next to her. She grabbed it and fell still once more, listening for the footsteps again, before she pulled the curtain aside; she pulled just enough to let the light outside stream in, just enough to give her an idea of what time it was.

But there was no light to greet her.

It was still pitch black outside.

Which meant that it was too early for Kung Lao to be returning from his run.

And the thought of someone unknown being this close to her was enough to set off another ripple of fear.

Adrenaline shot her body to full alert as Jade climbed to her feet now, as she grabbed her tri-blade from where she had left it impaled in the wall space next to her bed. She played with the weight of it in her hand as she slowly made her way out of the small bedroom, flipping the blades in and out between her fingers now; a habit she had taken on to combat her nerves.

She missed the weight of her Bojutsu staff in her hands.

She missed the security in the distance that it gave her, the wide striking range she had with it.

But she had lost it years before.

There was no sense in continuing to mourn its absence.

The floorboards were aged underneath her feet, but she had learned where to walk to keep them from creaking.

Jade kept her body low as she pushed through the hanging curtain that served to separate the bedroom from the larger room on the other side. She stayed within the shadows that pooled black around the room, feeling both comfortable and uncomfortable with the wider space around her now. She kept a mental note of the house layout, of every entry point that was available.

The bedroom was behind her.

She was in the main room now.

And just across from that was the wash room.

Each room had a varying number of windows, with some of them covered by a shutter, and others simply covered by a curtain.

But given that the house was on stilts, given that it was almost a full story off of the ground, Jade highly doubted that anyone would even attempt to come through a window. It would make far too much noise and bring far too much attention; and she would know, considering she had tested the method out herself to gauge how plausible it was.

And given how many years she had spent sneaking in and out without notice, Jade didn't believe there was someone who would be more proficient at it than herself.

So there was only one viable entry point.

Listening still, Jade heard the footsteps as they moved directly underneath the house now and she mimicked their pathing as she followed them across the room.

They were moving faster than she was, which gave away that whoever they belonged to knew what they were doing- or at least, knew what they wanted to do.

It also gave away that they were completely unaware of her presence.

It sounded like it was just one person.

There weren't any other noises she could pick up on.

No voices either, not even a whisper.

Jade locked her tri-blade into place and held it in position in her hand as she heard the ladder outside creak under the weight of someone climbing it.

She moved to position herself in alignment with the front door while still keeping herself in the shadows.

A good half-room of space was between her and the door, which gave her enough leeway to move around in.

And that was only if whoever was on the other side of the door even made it inside.

Jade had her mind set on a clean throw with just the slightest curve right at the end, just enough to impale one of the blades clean through the throat of whoever was unfortunate enough to cross her.

It was a throw she had done a thousand times over.

Her body stiffened as the footsteps touched onto the connecting porch outside before they walked the short distance to the door. They went quiet for a moment, but she heard the sound of hands fumbling with the lantern hanging just outside; the only beacon of light in the pitch dark.

And she listened as the lantern was pulled down from its hook.

The touch of a hand at the doorknob sent one last tremor through her legs as Jade drew her tri-blade back.

She held her breath as she watched the door shake in its frame before it was pushed open.

The pool of light from the lit lantern came into sight first.

And the catch of a glimmer of green came in second.

And it was just barely enough to stop her from launching her blades at her open target.

At her _oblivious_ target.

Kung Lao was halfway through the door before he even noticed her.

"Jade? Did I wake-" Kung Lao started, looking just as surprised to see her- only to then almost drop the lantern in his hand when he noticed her tri-blade still locked in her fingers, still perfectly aimed down at him.

His free hand moved up in a show of defense, moving up to shield his neck.

Which said enough of just how often he had seen her throw her weapon.

And how often he had seen it hit its target.

"Whoa, _easy_ , it's just me."

Jade released the breath she had been holding and dropped her tri-blade back to her side.

There was a stinging pain in her arm now from the tight grip of her hand, from the tense clenching of her fingers.

A rush of relief washed over her, but it was short-lived given how the wasted tension just made her feel stressed now.

She had gotten too worked up.

Her head had been filled with the thoughts of a stranger trespassing into her space.

She had gotten herself convinced that she was going to be taken again, that she was going to be dragged some place worse than before- and that she was going to have to fight and kill her way out of it. Again.

"It's just me," Kung Lao whispered in repeat, obviously picking up on the tension.

Jade said nothing as she watched him step completely inside now and watched as he pushed the door closed behind him. She was too busy trying to shake off the nerves, trying to shake off the restlessness to speak just yet. It felt like her head was still in a cloud; she still had adrenaline in her blood and the heightened senses were still trying to convince her that there was someone out there.

A rush of fear for nothing.

"You're back early," she finally spoke, half-forcing herself to. She had to remind herself that this whole ordeal had happened because she had been wrong about him returning so soon. And now that that was the case, there had to be a reason for it. "Did something happen? You didn't get bit again, did you?"

"That only happened once," he deflected.

"It still happened," Jade reminded.

She watched as Kung Lao set the lantern on the floor and brushed his hands off on his pants.

And when he looked to her again, she didn't like the look in his eyes.

"I saw movement on the horizon line."

Jade felt her stomach sink at the words.

Every bit of adrenaline and fear she had felt before, that she had worked quickly to ground, came rushing back to her.

"It was a good couple of miles out, and I was a couple of miles away from here when I saw it," Kung Lao assured, perhaps prompted by the evident look of it all on her face. "Whoever they are, they're too far away to even know this place exists. And even then, they won't enter the swamps unless they have to. And given this time of year, they wouldn't make it far enough to find any sort of evidence that could even convince them to get into the water. We'll be perfectly fine exactly where we are."

His words were accompanied by him drawing closer to her, by his hands reaching out and touching her arms.

Jade felt the gentle squeeze that followed, that attempted to comfort her.

And she would've taken comfort in it had she not felt the subtle falter in his grip immediately after.

"But it might still be in our best interest to lay low and lay still for a while."

Despite how Kung Lao had presented the conflict, his confidence on the matter seemed to wane as soon as he had finished speaking about it.

She couldn't blame him.

Miles or not, the news sent a crawling itch under her skin.

"No, you're right," Jade spoke, as she moved her hands to wrap around his forearms, before she slid them down to capture his own hands in her grasp. She kept them tightly gripped out of a need for reassurance. "Whoever it is, they're probably just scoping around the Golden Desert again, looking for more minerals, or supplies. There's nothing here worth searching for, not this far into the swamp- and like you said, it's almost impossible to travel the waters this time of year."

They were in the middle of the wet season right now.

Which meant that the water levels had risen enough to flood more than half of the swamp lands, washing out any and all travel paths that lead into it.

The only way to travel it was by boat now, and given the thickness of the trees and the overgrown roots underneath the water, even that was near impossible to do.

The higher waters also brought out the crocodiles and the leech-snakes, which also served as two entirely different obstacles on their own.

As Kung Lao had proven a month or so before.

She was trying to reassure herself on the matter.

Trying to keep her own fear from crawling into her throat.

Trying to overlook the fact that it was very possible the movement had to do with them, that there were people out there still looking for them- still hunting for them. And that, despite not knowing that they were here, those people were still closing in on them; despite not knowing that they were here, those people had managed to find the one place they thought was impenetrable.

There were still a few more hours until twilight.

Which meant that the darkness would keep them out of anyone's line of sight for the time being- should someone even attempt to venture out this far. Which again, was near impossible, but they couldn't afford to think that someone wouldn't.

Their stealth situation had been working for them so far though.

There was no reason to think that it wouldn't keep working.

There was no reason to assume that they were in any kind of immediate danger.

But they also couldn't risk dropping their guard.

They couldn't risk being found.

Not again.

She refused to be dragged back.

Jade felt Kung Lao squeeze her hands before he pulled his own from her grasp.

Before he dropped his hands to her waist and slipped them around her, before he pulled her in against him.

She felt the warm kiss he pressed to her forehead and felt how his lips lingered against her skin.

"Go back to sleep," he whispered. "I'll keep an eye out."

Paranoia and lingering trauma forced them to take shifts, with one of them sleeping while the other kept a lookout, while they scouted around. It was in their best interest to make sure that at least one of them always kept an eye out for any kind of activity around them. And in the case that activity was spotted, they could retreat back to inform the other.

Which was the very thing Kung Lao had just done.

The very thing she should've known about.

Although, in her defense, this was the first time something like this had happened; the first time he had come back early due to a sighting- and not due to a swamp gator catching him by the leg.

She had to give herself some leeway in how she had jumped to conclusions.

Kung Lao took the night shift while Jade took up the morning one.

She was used to being up by the light of dawn and preferred the quiet stillness of the mornings to roam about in.

It reminded her of how things were before everything had gone to Hell.

He was more of a night owl anyways; although she had her reasoning for why he preferred the solitude of the night.

Regardless, she was awake for a few hours earlier than she needed to be.

But if they were going to lay low for the day, and possibly the next, then there was no need for her to leave.

And if she wasn't going to leave, then there was no need for her to make sure that she had proper rest.

Not right now anyways.

Besides, she could use company for a little while.

"I'm fine," Jade assured, as she slowly brought her arms around him in return.

Pulling herself in against him, she tucked her head into the side of Kung Lao's neck and felt the heat that his body was putting off; no doubt from his miles-long trek just to get back here. She could smell the musk of the swamp on him- and she could almost pinpoint just how far he had gotten away from home before he had been forced to turn back.

For a moment, she wondered just how he had reacted to seeing the movement.

If he had felt the same kind of fear she had.

"I'll just keep you company for now- and make sure that you stay awake."

Kung Lao chuckled and squeezed her in against him, folding his arms across her back as he did.

"Well, I'm not going to complain about that."

Jade moved her hands to climb up to his shoulders before she curled them in against him, before she gently scratched them up and down his back. She listened to the low groan that escaped him when she did so and felt the way Kung Lao leaned into her. A quiet chuckle escaped her at the growing weight he was putting on her before she turned her head and pressed her lips to his neck.

"If you're going to stay inside then at least go and change first," Jade whispered, as she scratched the length of his back once more before she dropped her hands to his waist. She pushed him back, only to feel how he didn't so much as budge under her force. "Just because you live in a swamp doesn't mean you have to smell like it- and it doesn't mean you have to take me down with you."

"Oh? And here I thought you were going to be my swamp woman," Kung Lao remarked, as he squeezed her in tighter against him now.

Jade didn't want to encourage him by laughing.

She didn't want to make light of their situation, of how they were both essentially living out here against their will; of how their only options were to either stay and hide out here in the swamp, or risk losing their lives being somewhere else.

And yet, she found herself laughing anyways.

Laughing at the break in tone, at the small hint of growing normalcy between them.

"Go- _please_ ," Jade reiterated, as she kissed him on the neck once more. When he still didn't budge, she lightly bit him and felt how his hold on her loosened in response to it, before she kissed him again- laughing against his skin as she did so. "Do you want me to make you anything while you're changing?"

"Can you make me disappear?" Kung Lao replied.

"You can do that on your own."

He gave a laugh this time before he succumbed to her efforts and pulled away, freeing her for the time being, but not before bringing his hands to her face and pressing one more kiss to her forehead. Jade felt herself smile under the gesture as she brought a hand to touch one of his own, squeezing it once more, before she felt him finally pull away.

She watched as Kung Lao made his way across the room before he eventually disappeared behind the hanging curtain of the open doorway, disappearing into the bedroom.

And Jade waited until he was out of sight before she let out a heavy sigh, before she moved to pick up the lantern he had left on the floor.

The idea of people being on the horizon line wasn't the greatest news to wake up to, but they had been in closer calls before.

They had gone through this sort of thing before.

All they had to do was lay low and keep quiet and wait it out.

In the event that someone did make it into the swamp, and they did happen to get even somewhat close to them, they had plenty of warning systems in place to catch their attention.

They weren't without eyes all over the swamp.

And this wouldn't be the first time they would have to tie a body beneath the water in order to avoid it being seen, in order to avoid it being reported.

The real question here was whether it was Shao Kahn's men, or Shang Tsung's.

They each had a different reason for searching.

And a different reason for being so far away from the Outworld palace.

Using the lantern to guide her, Jade made her way to the unlit fireplace at the back of the room and questioned whether or not it was safe enough to light. The smoke would be near impossible to see through the dense overhang, let alone even be visible from the horizon line. And even if it was visible, it would be too difficult to tell just where it was coming from; and even then, if someone knew a direction, getting here would be a struggle of its own.

She opted to light it.

They could use the warmth and they could save the lantern oil for later.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to get some water boiling either; they could use it for tea or for some form of cleaning, especially depending on if Kung Lao had gotten into the deeper water or not. Although he seemed to have learned his lesson from last time.

She used the lantern flame to light a piece of tinder before she tossed a fresh cut of wood on top.

Jade waited as the burning tinder slowly began to catch, forming an ember, and then slowly turning into a smoldering flame at the bottom of the wood stack. She prodded it carefully with a homemade pick and made sure that it was strong enough to burn on its own before she stepped away.

Blowing out the lantern, she hung it on a hook that dangled from the middle of the ceiling, and reminded herself to hang it back outside the door the next time she went out.

Whenever that would be.

Moving back to the fireplace, she unhooked the kettle that was hanging over it and carried it over to the large barrel in the corner of the room.

It had rained heavily the week before, which had left them with plenty of collected rainwater; a small upside to the wet season.

And with plenty of collection barrels now full, they had plenty of water for just the two of them.

Not that water was really an issue around here.

Jade filled the kettle halfway with the water reserves that were inside before she pushed the lid back over the barrel.

The creaking of floorboards drew her attention as she made her way back to the now burning fire, and Jade watched as Kung Lao stepped back out into the main room to join her.

He had changed into another set of clothes; ones that she recognized getting from the nomads.

It was a cream-colored shirt that wrapped into a V-cut across his chest, before it tied off into a sash around his waist. The sleeves were quarter length, or at least, they were now; given the tattered cuffs, she wasn't certain if that was the original length for them or not. There was supposed to be a longer shirt worn underneath it; it was longer-sleeved, and covered up to the neck, to protect one's skin from the sun.

Obviously, that wasn't necessary here.

And then it was black pants, which were probably a little tighter-fitting than he was used to.

It was a far-cry from the bold colors he used to wear, but it was beginning to look nice on him.

Jade watched as he ran a hand across the front of his chest, smoothing out the looseness of the shirt he must've hastily put on.

She watched as he scratched at the open skin of his chest, before his hand dropped and subconsciously touched at his arm.

And Jade watched as he ran his fingers down along the scales that covered it.

She had gotten used to the sight of them by now, but every now and then, they still managed to catch her off-guard.

The memory of bronze skin felt like it was fading more and more these days.

When her fingers grazed her own arm, in mimic of his movement, she felt the same scales underneath her own hand.

"You look tired," Jade remarked, as she moved to the fireplace and stooped down to hang the kettle back onto its hook- careful to avoid the open flame underneath her now.

"I just look like this," Kung Lao replied.

And Jade caught the motion of him rubbing at the dark circle under one of his eyes.

They hadn't been there before.

They had been an unfortunate addition made along with the scales.

"I must've traveled out further than I thought I did," he continued. "Either that or I'm just stressed- more than I'll admit to."

They both were.

Standing up, Jade brushed her hands off on her shirt and lingered by the fire, taking in the slow build of heat that it was beginning to give off. It would take a while before it would heat up the house, and there was a good chance they would put it out before then. But she foresaw them spending the rest of their day in here, rather than holding up in the bedroom.

"Given the situation-" she started.

"We'll be fine," Kung Lao assured, interrupting her with the remark. "This isn't the first time- and it won't be the last either."

There was some comfort to be taken in his words.

In the idea that even if they did get found again, they would just do as they had done several times before.

Escape, evade, and go into hiding.

It didn't feel as though it would be so easily done this time, however.

The Great Swamp was the last place Jade thought anyone would come and check.

It was the furthest land mass from the Outworld palace that didn't require them having to cross the sea.

Jade could still remember coming out here to begin with.

She could still remember that desperate hope that the swamp would offer them safety that no other place had as of yet.

And the desperate hope that if it couldn't offer them safety, then it would at least offer them a quiet place to die in.

The two of them had been forced to cross the Golden Desert in order to get this far away, which was difficult enough to do on its own- let alone in the state they had been in at the time. And in doing so, it had put them in danger of crossing paths with the roaming nomads who crossed back and forth across the desert every couple of months.

Any amount of coin could convince one of the nomad tribes to give up answers about their whereabouts, to point a finger in the right direction.

And Shao Kahn and Shang Tsung had plenty of coins to give.

By the grace and mercy of the Gods, the nomads seemed willing to keep their presence hidden from any and all who asked for them. They cared more for trading and services than they did for coins, and they seemed to have very little respect for those in charge. They were weary to outsiders, especially those who threatened first before speaking, which automatically made them cold to any and all of the Emperor's soldiers.

She and Kung Lao would occasionally trade services for goods, for keeping a secret, whenever the nomad tribe passed through; although the two of them rarely touched the Golden sands. They took care of some of the tribe's issues, which usually involved them tracking and hunting down wildlife that stalked the tribe whenever they traveled.

The last incident involved a massive scorpion-like Kytinn that traveled beneath the sands and struck mid-day when most of the tribe was resting in their tents to get out of the sun.

Jade had to admit that she was getting better at cracking open creatures like that between the plates of their armor.

Given the opportunity though, she would much rather chance crossing the sea to disappear into the Living Forest instead.

At least she felt some sense of home there.

"You're nervous."

Jade snapped out of her thoughts at the remark.

She looked over as Kung Lao moved to join her, as he moved to stand next to her in front of the fire now.

The orange flames conflicted with the green hue that had taken over his skin, that painted it underneath the dark scales that covered him from the neck down. The open cut of his shirt revealed one of few spots that had been left smooth, but now vulnerable without the protecting scales to cover it; and even then, it seemed pointless given that it was still a faded green shade.

She could see the halo effect the fire created in his eyes as well.

Yellow and split down the middle.

"It's been a long time since we've seen movement," Jade reminded, as she pulled her eyes back to the fire. As she tried to shake off the sudden itch under her skin; as she tried not to think about how her body looked just the same as his. "I wanted to think that Shang Tsung had finally given up on looking for us. But I'm beginning to realize that that will never happen. Not until this war is over, anyways. Or until either he or the both of us are dead."

Being so far into the swamp, it was easy to forget that there were other things going on.

That there had been other things going on, all without them knowing of it.

The only news they received were from the nomads, who were willing to spread what little news they had.

But that was just it- little news.

Nothing big, nothing with details.

As far as she knew, the war between Earthrealm and Outworld was still at its peak.

Even after two years of endless fighting.

There was no telling when it would be over.

And she didn't know if they would ever know when it would be over.

Jade turned at the catch of movement in her peripheral and watched as Kung Lao rubbed at the back of his neck before he moved to squeeze his shoulder. And she caught the subtle grimace that tugged at his lips when he did so.

"You okay?" she asked, moving a hand to brush his arm.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kung Lao assured- not that she believed him. "My back just hurts- so nothing new."

She heard the quiet chuckle that followed his words as he tried to laugh it off, but she knew how serious it was.

She knew how much pain he was in.

"Well, we're going to be stuck inside anyways," Jade started, as she squeezed his arm now. "Grab a chair and take your shirt off."

"You _just_ made me change," he replied.

"I did- and now you need to take your shirt off."

Jade heard him scoff lightly and laugh to himself as he succumbed to her will once more and moved off to grab a chair from the nearby table set.

This house had been long abandoned before they found it, but it had been in a good condition despite the environment around it. Whoever had built it certainly knew what they were doing- especially given the long stilts that kept the house up and out of the water. Whoever had left it here must've done so in a hurry, or in a desperate need for new scenery, because they left everything behind. It was half-furnished, but came with all of the necessary utilities, so it evened out.

They had furnished a portion of it themselves with a few things the nomads had given them in return for hunting.

It was the little things that brought comfort.

And right now, they needed as much of that as they could get.

She had done some washing a few days before and had a neat stack of recently dried towels half-folded in a chest next to the fireplace.

While she had done most of the leg work, she had yet to actually move them into their proper placement in the wash room- despite the days that had passed by. But now, she was sort of glad that she hadn't.

Grabbing a towel from the chest, Jade unfolded it and shook it out, before she carefully dropped it into the now steaming water to let it soak. She would've patted herself on the back for her insight on boiling the water ahead of time, but she knew this was bound to happen. She had gotten used to it by now; she knew what signs to look for, even when he didn't say anything.

She looked up as Kung Lao brought a chair over and set it down close to the fire.

"You're one step done," Jade remarked, before she gestured for his shirt.

"I'm getting there," he assured, as he started to unwrap the shirt from around his waist before he peeled it off of his shoulders.

And again, she found herself looking him over, looking over the scales that cut out a path around his chest and partly down the middle of his abdomen. The details of his body were barely readable now; one could only see the shape of him depending on the direction the scales curved in, and sometimes depending on the size of the scales as well.

The larger ones covered his shoulders and a portion of his back, while mid-sized scales covered his arms and ribs.

Smaller ones covered his hands and were lightly scattered around his neck, just barely touching the back of his jaw.

Jade tried not to stare, but even she found it near impossible not to from time to time.

When she looked up from his chest, she caught the look in his eye at the last minute.

"If you throw that at me-" Jade started, only to have his shirt hit her in the chest before she could finish her threat. "Okay, it's going into the pot."

"Wait- that's the only clean one I have-"

She snatched his shirt and held it out of his grasp when Kung Lao reached for it. "Ah, well, you should've thought of that sooner," she teased, as she dangled it in front of the fireplace now- although well out of danger. "Now sit."

With a roll of the eyes, Kung Lao complied and moved to sit backwards in the chair so that his back could face her.

One hand reached back to grab his braid before he pulled it over his shoulder- doing so before she asked him to.

Jade tossed his shirt next to the wooden chest, and tried to remind herself to find it there later, before she walked over to him. Hands moved to cover his shoulders, squeezing them gently underneath her palms, and listening to the quiet groan that left him almost immediately. She could feel the tension underneath her hands, and felt how it pulled tighter when she moved them into the curve of his neck.

She watched as Kung Lao moved his arms around the back of the chair in front of him, before he curled his hands over the supporting board at the top.

His knuckles were almost white already.

Jade moved one hand to press against the base of his neck, while her other moved to trail down his back.

Fingers dipped into the deep gouges that were marked as scars underneath his scales, feeling how some were deeper than others; evidence of an injury being repeated in the same place again and again. Shallower ones filled in the other spaces, filling in the space between his shoulder-blades.

She felt the shiver that ran across his body when she touched them.

Even now, she could still see each of the open wounds.

She could still see the layer of fat that spilled out of them, the bright marble of muscle underneath it.

Every time she looked at them, Jade was reminded of how Shang Tsung would have him impaled on one of the iron hooks that hung over the Dead Pool, and how the Sorcerer would leave him to hang there for hours at a time.

She could still remember being kept in the cells in the Sorcerer's labyrinth, just days past from being captured during the fight to free Earthrealm's fighters and get them back to their own realm.

A war had been quick to break out after the results of the Tournament, after they had come out in Earthrealm's favor.

A war Shao Kahn had declared without the Elder God's approval- and had then made good on his declaration.

After everything that had happened before then, after uncovering millenniums worth of deceit and betrayal, all Jade had wanted to do was help the Earthrealm fighters get to safety, and then help them prepare for an invasion. She had known by then that she couldn't stay in Outworld, not after being declared an enemy to the Emperor- an enemy to Outworld itself; her own home.

Her last memory before everything went to Hell had been her pushing Kitana to go with the fighters, to go with Lord Raiden.

Jade had wanted nothing more than to get the woman as far away from Shao Kahn's wraith as she could.

Even if it meant staying back herself in order to cover Kitana's escape.

Inevitably, Kung Lao had done the same.

In information she had learned after the fact, apparently Shao Kahn and Liu Kang had met in battle while all Hell was breaking out around them. And that, despite the Shaolin's training, Shao Kahn had gotten the upperhand on him regardless- resulting in the Emperor crushing one of Liu Kang's legs in the encounter. A non-lethal wound, which was unheard of from Shao Kahn, but Jade knew better. She knew Shao Kahn had planned for the injury; she knew that he had done it on purpose, to keep Liu Kang from escaping- to make him easier to kill.

But not before Shao Kahn could make him out to be an example to Earthrealm.

It would've been horrific.

And things might've gone that way had Kung Lao not somehow managed to get Liu Kang away from the Emperor immediately after the crushing blow. Had he not managed to get Liu Kang to Lord Raiden before Shao Kahn could find them. Had he not gotten Liu Kang back to Earthrealm to prevent further carnage.

And much like she had promised Kitana that she would be back, he had more than likely promised Liu Kang the same.

A promise neither of them ended up fulfilling.

Jade couldn't recall how exactly the two of them had been captured, but she remembered pacing the space of her small prison cell for days, although she didn't know how many. She could still remember the lingering chill in the air, the seeping chill of being alone, of being held captive in silence. The eerie loneliness of it crawled under her skin and kept her awake; it kept her desperate for any sort of noise that might break the solitude.

She could still feel the plunging coldness that ran across her body as the first noise that broke the silence had been the sound of Kung Lao screaming.

Pierced and agonized screams.

She didn't know how long the screaming went on for, but she remembered the swelling fear when it stopped.

And she remembered how that fear had amplified when she heard the sound of footsteps approaching her cell soon after.

Despite her best efforts, the guards had managed to pull her from her cell and restrained her before she could put up a proper fight. She still struggled where she could, but it had done little to stop them from dragging her out of the prison and dragging her to the floor above.

Jade could still see that smug look on Shang Tsung's face when his guards had brought her to him.

She could still feel that smug aura that came off of him as he waved them off, leaving just the two of them alone.

That was the first time he had dragged her into the Dead Pool, into his homegrown torture pit. What had originally been a pit of acid used to dispose of tissue, to dispose of failed mutations, had now been turned into a delightful method of torture, into a delightful use for interrogation, for black mail. And the Sorcerer prided himself on its grotesque appearance, on its ability to strike fear at the drop of its name.

Jade could still feel Shang Tsung's hand as it had gripped the back of her neck, as he had forced her to look at the bodies he had hung over the acid.

Each person had been dressed in the same manner.

They had all had their arms restrained behind them; they had all had a black sack put over their heads, concealing whoever they were underneath it.

They had all been shirtless, which had showed off the hooks that had protruded from their chests, which had showed off the blood that had run down their bodies and had dripped into the acid below them.

They had all still been alive.

All hung, like pigs to the slaughter.

Jade could still hear the delight in Shang Tsung's voice when he had asked her to pick out which body she thought was Kung Lao's.

And she could still feel the anguish, the agony in her body when the Sorcerer lowered one of the bodies into the acid.

When he made her watch the painful thrashing and listen to the muffled screaming.

_"Tell me, Jade, do those screams sound familiar to you?"_

Shang Tsung had let her succumb to the belief that it had been Kung Lao.

He had let her drop to her knees; he had let her scream and curse at him, only to be met with that same grin.

Only to have him kneel down in front of her and reveal that it had been a ploy.

Kung Lao hadn't been the one dropped into the acid, but he had still been one of the bodies that were hanging. And Shang Tsung threatened to make good on her fear, on her anguish, if she didn't comply with his demands- if she didn't submit to his experiments.

And with Kung Lao's life in her hands, she had had no other choice.

Pulling her hands from his back, Jade noted that the tension remained under his skin before she walked back to the fireplace. She reached in and fished the soaked towel out of the now boiling water, before she carefully wrung it out over the open kettle; she did her best to avoid having any of the water spill and potentially snuff the fire out.

She could re-light it, sure, but she would have to replace the logs and she really wasn't up for that right now.

Jade could see the steam coming off of the towel and off of her hands as she gave it one last wring.

She felt the heat of it in her grasp and mentally, she knew it should've been hurting her.

But it wasn't.

If anything, it felt almost soothing.

Comforting even.

Stepping back, she shook the towel out before she walked over to Kung Lao once more.

And she didn't hesitate to drop the steaming towel directly onto his shoulders and back.

Jade heard him give a hiss in response and watched as his body quivered underneath the sudden heat.

"Feeling better?" she asked, as she moved to adjust how the towel fit against him.

She pulled it over his shoulders to rest properly before she carefully worked her fingers over him again; this time, she worked the hot water in with her motions. It took a few rotating presses before Jade felt him begin to relax underneath her; and once she felt the slump of his shoulders, she squeezed the heat from the towel around them, causing water to trickle down his back now.

"Getting there."

Kung Lao's response was somewhat muffled now as he kept his head tucked against the back of the chair.

Keeping the towel in place with one hand, Jade dropped her other one to the back of his ribs.

And without a word, she raked her fingers up against the grain of his scaling.

She felt his body arch forward at the gesture, almost straightening up now.

And she grinned at the partial moan that escaped him.

" _That's_ the spot-"

Chuckling softly at his response, Jade repeated the motion- and received the same reaction. "You think I don't know that by now?"

Kung Lao lifted his head with a quiet laugh.

"It gets better every time, is all," he remarked.

Jade worked her fingers against his ribs a few times over before she moved back up between his shoulders. She listened to his quiet groaning as her fingers passed over his scarring once more, but she felt how Kung Lao pushed back against her now, clearly enjoying the sensations this time around.

Gradually easing him down from the raking, Jade took the towel in her hands again before she worked it over his shoulders once more. She pressed her palms against him, working hard circles into his muscles, before she slowly made her way up to his neck.

She felt how Kung Lao tilted his head back in response, allowing her fingers to curl up under his jaw now.

Jade leaned down and pressed her lips to his forehead, unable to resist the opening he had made for her.

"I need to return the favor one of these days," he mused. "So you can see how good it feels."

"Maybe- but you don't have my technique for it," Jade reminded, as she dropped her hands back to his shoulders and then down to his back once more. She bundled the towel in her hands now and focused the remaining warmth of it between his shoulder-blades.

"I can learn."

Jade remembered the first night after Shang Tsung had run his experiments on her, after he had tossed her like some kind of ragdoll into another prison cell.

Her body had felt like it was on fire, like she had been the one dropped into the acid instead.

She had had no physical injuries, and yet she would've preferred them.

At least then she would've had something to blame for the pain.

She had spent hours in there by herself, trying to combat how every little movement would send her body into crippling agony. How every little movement would make her choke on the breath in her lungs, on the breath in her throat.

Hours spent undergoing whatever twisted sorcery had been forced on her had left her in a paralyzed state.

She remembered the immediate rush of fear when she heard the guards outside her cell again; when she had found herself questioning if they were coming to retrieve her again, if they were going to take her back to that place, if they were going to make her undergo that same experiment again.

She remembered staying completely still, as though hoping they wouldn't find her- as useless as it was to hope.

Only for the guards to throw Kung Lao into the same cell with her.

Only for her to find out that when Shang Tsung had finished his experiments on her, he had simply turned around and repeated them on the Shaolin.

The Sorcerer had taken advantage of his weakened state, of Kung Lao's inability to fight back.

Jade remembered how she had spent that night trying to take care of him, trying to keep him from bleeding to death from the injuries caused by the iron hook. It had left gaping wounds on his chest and back, both of which mirrored one another; both of which seemed to be the size of her own fist, something she compared them to when she pressed her knitted hand against him.

They had both shared in the same agony of having sorcery forced upon them.

But it had felt as though she was only making his pain worse.

The smell of blood and acid had been nauseating in the shared cell.

And it became an unfortunate cycle that repeated itself over and over again.

Some nights had been better than others.

Sometimes the hook just punctured the muscle and tore the skin.

But sometimes it broke his ribs, sometimes it broke his shoulder, his collarbone.

And in those instances, there was nothing Jade could do to help him.

Shang Tsung would always heal him by the next day, if only to shove the iron hook through the barely-healed wound minutes later.

It was why some of his scars were gouged into his skin, showing off where chunks of flesh and tissue had been ripped out from repeated impalement. It showed off how sometimes Shang Tsung didn't heal him, and instead allowed for his open wounds to turn necrotic, allowing his skin to rot from the inside out.

It had added another pungent smell to the blood and acid in their cell.

It was why Kung Lao had difficulty standing straight sometimes, why he couldn't always raise his arms above his shoulders.

[If Shang Tsung hadn't destroyed his hat in the acid, Jade highly doubted the Shaolin would even be able to throw it now in his condition.]

It was why he had persistent pain that borderline crippled him.

It was why she went out of her way to tend to him, to try and alleviate the pain in any manner she could.

Jade let the towel temporarily drop to the floor as she moved her hands to the back of his ribs once more, as she worked her fingers against the grain of his scaling again. And once again, she felt how his skin pulled tight under the working pressure, under the roughness of her raking.

"Now you're just doing that on purpose," Kung Lao murmured.

"I am," Jade admitted. "I haven't got much else going on, so I might as well keep my hands preoccupied."

"You use your hands a lot when you're nervous," he remarked.

"Stunning observation," she replied, much to his amusement, it seemed.

She slowed her movements and eased him off of the raking once more, before she picked the towel off of the floor. She could feel how the heat of it had been absorbed into his skin now- and she could see how the heat had altered the colors of his scales, shifting them from a green to an almost black. And even though she hated the sight of them, Jade admitted that she always found the color-change amusing.

Shifting the colors of the scales was something they were still learning.

Neither of them wanted to, but given how the circumstances were against them, and given how blending into their environment had saved their asses one too many times, they had no other choice but to figure it out.

Jade had managed to make herself invisible a few times already, but she had yet to figure out what triggered the reaction.

Other than fear, anyways.

Moving back to the fireplace, Jade tossed the towel back into the kettle to re-heat.

The fire was bigger now and was putting off more heat than it had before.

And Jade found herself lingering in front of it, taking in the warm aura.

She looked over at a soft groan and watched as Kung Lao pushed himself up from the chair. She watched as his hands pulled into fists before he pressed them against his lower back, kneading and digging his knuckles in with the motion- putting more force into than she had. He kept it up for a few moments before he dropped his hands back to his sides.

Jade watched as he stepped around the chair before he walked to the other end of the room, only to turn around and walk back.

He was restless.

Or maybe just stiff-backed.

Neither of which she could blame him for.

She watched as Kung Lao eventually made it back to the chair before he sat back down, properly this time. And it was evident with his position that he was using the back of the chair to keep his own back straight as he sat; which was something he had only just started doing. She hadn't asked him about it, but she thought he might've been trying to correct his posture, trying to correct his body against the pain that brought his shoulders forward.

Jade wondered if it had some part to do with his Shaolin training.

She remembered Kung Lao explaining to her once why there was such a difference between his and Liu Kang's fighting styles. Why he was fairly stiff in his body movement while Liu Kang was in a constant state of motion. He said it boiled down to their training, to how they trained their bodies in combat; how they found their balance in fighting and crafted their skills around it.

It had been an answer to a question she had asked long before any of them could have predicted what would happen next.

It must've felt as though the sanctuary of his own body was ruined now.

"You know what happens if you sit like that," Jade mused, poking fun at his position regardless.

"And why do you think I decided to sit like this?"

She chuckled before she pushed herself up from in front of the fire and walked over to him.

Before she let Kung Lao grab her by the waist and pull her down into his lap.

Jade felt how he swung her legs across his thighs so he could hold them in one arm, while the other moved to brace across her back and pull her in against him. The subtle cradling hold allowed her to lean into his chest; it allowed her to tuck her head against his shoulder, tucking it into his neck.

She felt the curl of his hand against her side and felt how he rested his head against her own now.

She could remember how night times were just the two of them.

How, once Shang Tsung was done with them, he would lock them both into one cell and leave them to one another for what few hours separated them from their next torturing.

It had seemed like an odd arrangement at first.

But they were both always in far too much pain to do much else but lie there in one another's company.

They were too weak to even try and escape together.

But they would keep each other strong in whatever manner they could.

They would give each other a motive to live through the next day.

They would give each other false hope that they would outlast whatever experiments Shang Tsung was running on them.

Which was something that the Sorcerer had to have anticipated, that he had to have been betting on.

He used them to keep one another's spirit alive.

After all, test subjects survived longer when they had a motive to, when they still had a will to.

It was why the two of them had fared so well for as long as they did.

It hadn't been easy though.

Kung Lao had tried more than once to convince her to escape the first chance she got; he tried to convince her to ignore whatever threats Shang Tsung had made against his life and to just focus on herself.

And that was when Jade had realized that he was well aware of Shang Tsung's tactic, that he knew the Sorcerer was using him as a pawn against her.

Kung Lao knew that Shang Tsung was using his weakness to Outworld magic against him.

Pain and consistent blood loss made him an easy victim to it, with or without restraints.

And he knew that she was submitting herself to the experiments to keep him alive; he knew that she was making herself out to be a willing subject. After all, the experiments took longer to perform on her due to her resistance to magic. And during that time frame, Shang Tsung needed her to be docile in order for the sorcery to work- in order for it to take proper hold.

Something the Sorcerer couldn't do on his own.

Well, he could've, but why would he?

Not when there was a much easier solution.

And if there was one thing Jade knew about Shang Tsung, it was that he would cut corners where he could.

If he could pass a fight off to someone else, he would.

It had been the same mindset.

Shang Tsung didn't need to restrain her.

He didn't need to have someone else hold her down, not when she would willingly submit on her own.

Admittedly, there were plenty of times where Jade knew she could have escaped.

There were plenty of times where she could have allowed Shang Tsung to drop Kung Lao into the acid and take away his leverage against her. And without a leverage, she wouldn't need to submit.

She could have fought the Sorcerer herself.

She could have won- or at least, gotten away from him long enough to escape.

But then what?

What would she have done then?

There was no way for her to get to Earthrealm, to reunite with the others. And even then, even if she could- even if she _had_ \- what would she have told everyone? She could've lied, but she wasn't much of a liar. And they would've deserved to know the truth. Liu Kang and Lord Raiden would've deserved to know that she had traded Kung Lao's life out for her own.

She would've gone crazy.

Even if she had dragged the pain out for the both of them, at least they still had each other now.

At least they could continue to keep each other sane until- until _something_.

Even if it felt like wasted effort most days.

Even if she had to battle the weight of guilt every single day just to get herself out of bed.

Jade moved a hand to Kung Lao's chest and touched at the patch of soft skin in the center of it; she rubbed her palm against it and listened to, and felt, the quiet exhale that left him in response. She felt the careful squeeze of his hand around her waist, feeling how his fingers tangled in the folds of her shirt.

Gradually, she trailed her fingers to knots of scar tissue under his left shoulder.

She could feel the twisted skin underneath the scaling and she felt how her fingers could trace circles around them.

"I'm fine," Kung Lao spoke, unprompted- although it was obvious why he had.

"Maybe you are," Jade replied.

She felt the way he squeezed her in closer to him.

"Well, I'm about as fine as one can be in this situation," he offered as a broader answer.

Jade felt how his hand moved up from her waist and felt how Kung Lao worked his arm around her ribs, carefully turning her body in against him now- drawing her in closer to him. She moved her hand to his shoulder as she turned her body with him, as she managed to slip her other arm around to his back, pulling him into a loose hug.

"I guess, all things considered, I can't really complain," Kung Lao continued.

"Yes, you can," she assured.

"Yeah, I can- but there's really nothing more to say that I haven't already said before."

Jade found herself quietly laughing into his shoulder at the remark.

Things were so bleak, so miserable, and yet he still managed to keep his head halfway above the water.

"How are you able to keep yourself in such high-spirits?" she asked.

"I have to be something."

It took months of seemingly endless experiments before Shang Tsung's sorcery finally took hold.

Before the two of them began to show signs of whatever it was that the Sorcerer was trying to create out of them.

And that was when the worst of it really started.

Jade remembered waking up to find that portions of her skin had peeled and fallen off, revealing the green scales growing underneath it.

They had itched and burned the entire time, making her feel as though her body was constantly being skinned over and over again. At one point, it felt like she had finally gone crazy from it all, like she had finally hit her breaking point after countless months of continued suffering. She remembered scratching and clawing her own skin off just to make the process end faster- even when some of the skin peeled back to reveal muscle instead.

It was all for Shang Tsung's amusement, for his curiosity.

He relished in the sight of them, in seeing his work finally come to fruition.

Once the scales began to show, it was a downhill process.

It only took about a week's time before the rest of her body changed to fit.

She remembered going blind; she remembered dealing with the agonizing pain in her eyes, dealing with the sensation of them rolling back and melting in their sockets. To be in agony and swallowed into darkness, with no way of knowing if her sight was going to come back to her- if her sanity hadn't cracked before then, it should've by that point.

Two days later, her vision came back in a mess of blood streaming down her cheeks.

Only for her to see how her eyes had been changed.

Yellow and split down the middle.

It only continued to get worse from there.

They had been embedded, infused, whatever the word might've been, with Saurian blood, or essence. It had been fused into their bodies, recreating them as some form of blend between human and reptile- recreating them as a hybrid.

Shang Tsung never gave them a reason for why he did it, for why he seemed so hellbent on needing it to work.

For why countless failed results would put them at the mercy of the Sorcerer's wraith, even when there was nothing they could do to change them.

Jade had theories, but nothing she could prove.

The day after the scales on her arm had appeared, she remembered how the Sorcerer had dragged her to his study and she remembered how he had poured a container of acid over her arm. She remembered the pain, the smell of burnt flesh, and the sound of her own screaming, all while Shang Tsung simply observed her.

It was another experiment he repeated day after day until the scaling on her arm prevented her from being burned.

Until the only smell was that of acid.

She thought maybe he was looking into another form of armor, another form of protection against his favorite form of torture.

But that didn't make any sense.

Not unless he was looking to protect certain body parts, while allowing others to dissolve.

She questioned his motives; she questioned how the Sorcerer would've been able to produce the necessary amount of scaled armor to do so- if that had been his intention. Only to be met with the idea, with the image of him skinning the scales off of her and putting her through the same experiments to force them to regrow.

Maybe he was looking for a new form of acid; a stronger variant, like the Saurian tribe had once boasted about.

But she didn't want to imagine herself being the one to produce it.

The Sorcerer continued to keep them in the dark about what he was doing, about why he was doing it. Which was uncharacteristic of him, considering how much he enjoyed talking about his own accomplishments; considering how much he enjoyed boasting about his work. Then again, this entire ordeal had been kept under wraps, without so much as a word of explanation to them about what was happening.

It had been difficult then to keep her own spirit up, let alone Kung Lao's as well.

But Jade remembered how he used to hold her at night, how he would let her sleep against him to give her a break from the concrete floor. He would run his fingers against her arm as she dozed off, gently stroking over the scales that had begun to harden in place. She could still remember the smell of him against her and how it would linger on her even when they were separated.

A newfound side-effect from the Saurian blood that now ran through her body.

It made it easy for her to focus on him, to hone all of her senses on him.

Jade didn't know if something in their behavior had changed by that point; she had tried not to let herself focus on every new thing that corrupted her body. But she had begun to find herself feeling desperate when she was separated from Kung Lao and desperate when she was reunited with him. And given how his grip on her was always tight when they were together, she imagined he had felt the same.

And like many things, it hadn't gone unnoticed.

She could still feel that deep-seated despair when Shang Tsung had had them separated and placed into different cells.

The first time he had done so since they had been caught.

Her first thought was that he had finally wanted them to die.

It only took one night being separated from Kung Lao before Jade realized why the Sorcerer had made that decision.

She didn't know if it had been the despair that triggered it, or something else- something more animalistic.

But that next day had found her practically collapsed in her cell.

Jade could still remember the heat that ran throughout her entire body; she could still remember how she could barely stand with how badly her legs trembled underneath her weight. The heat had been persistent, burning her from the inside, reminding her that she couldn't sweat through her skin anymore.

It was an aching throb that had turned painful between her legs.

And no matter how desperate her fingers were, she couldn't satisfy the heat.

She couldn't satisfy the deep-seated throbbing that had planted itself so deep inside of her.

She had brought herself to climax again and again, forcing herself to cum over and over again, only to feel nothing from any of it.

The same ache remained, no matter what she did.

In the slightest moment of clarity, Jade remembered honing in on the scent of him and realizing how Kung Lao was only a few yards from her, how he was only at the end of the hall from her. And it only made the feeling worse; it only made her body ache twice over in his absence. The scent of him being so close to her, yet just out of touch, felt like an entirely different form of torture.

Her head had spun when she touched herself, when she imagined Kung Lao in her place instead.

Instinct had wanted him.

_She_ had wanted him.

And desperation had caused her to bloody her fingers in an attempt to escape her cell, in an attempt to get to him.

Even when what minuscule amount of logic remained in control told her that it was just manipulation.

That it was just instinct- but that it wasn't _her_ instinct.

Jade remembered how she had spent three days in a heat-induced agony, on the brink of losing what little remained of her own humanity.

Shang Tsung and his guards had simply left them there.

More than likely to let the new blood run its course, to let the newfound hormones dictate their actions until they exhausted themselves. And no doubt, to let them suffer for just a little longer, especially now that the hard part was over with.

Looking back on it now, Jade was certain that was when the Saurian blood had taken full reign over their bodies.

And she was certain that the forced isolation was just another tactic Shang Tsung was experimenting with to keep them under his control.

And it had worked.

By the end of the third day, she would've jumped through any hoop the Sorcerer had asked her to.

Thankfully, Shang Tsung never asked- and she never had to submit to it.

By the fourth day, everything had changed.

Jade could still hear the sound of an iron-gated door being bent out of its frame; she could still hear the sound of it crunching underneath a persistent and unforgiving force. And she remembered how her heart seemed to beat in her throat when she heard Kung Lao's footsteps coming down the corridor towards her; there had been blood pumping in her ears at his arrival.

She could still feel how she had practically thrown herself at her cell door- simply desperate to see him.

And yet, actually seeing him again felt as though it had flipped something inside of her head.

She knew that he was a reflection of her; a borderline reptile, a borderline Saurian.

That little hand of logic suddenly came out, reminding her of what had brought them both here- reminding her of what had caused them to change in the ways that they did.

Despair had wanted him for one thing.

And now she wanted him for something entirely different.

Kung Lao broke the lock to her cell door; she didn't know how he did it, and she didn't care how. All she cared about was how he threw the door open and pulled her out of the cell- giving her the first hint of freedom in what had felt like years.

Jade couldn't remember how exactly the two of them managed to escape, but they did.

They just ran.

They ran away from everything- from the Dead Pool, from the sorcery, from Shang Tsung.

The Sorcerer's mark on them was permanent now, but they could stop it from going further.

They could stop him from reaping whatever benefits he had wished to take from his experimentation.

They ran as far as they could in as much time as they had to do so.

Jade didn't know how far they had managed to travel before they needed to stop, but she knew they had traveled for almost two day cycles without a break. Desperation and adrenaline had kept her motivated to keep running, to put as much space between them and Shang Tsung as they could. The new blood in her body might've also worked to keep her moving as well; it might've also worked to keep her energized enough to never look back.

The two of them managed to make it to the Drum Canyon before they had to force themselves to stop.

By then, she would've considered it a good thing that Shao Kahn had mobilized the Tarkatans just after the Tournament; it meant that they had little to fear in stumbling across the abandoned wastelands of the open canyon.

In the rush to follow the Emperor's orders, the Tarkatan tribe had left behind most of their tents and shelters; no doubt under the guise that they would simply just come back another time to fill up their camps once more. Most Outworlders steered clear at the sight of a Tarkatan camp; which meant that, at the very least, the two of them could find some sense of safety amongst the abandoned tents.

Despite being on the run for two days by then, Jade had considered that night to be the first night of freedom for them.

She remembered how she had bundled herself into the hide blankets and makeshift pillows, taking in as much warmth from them as she could; she had tried to remember then when the last time she had last been so warm was, when she had been so comfortable. She knew it would be short-lived, but even just the small memory of it would keep her going for a little longer.

Kung Lao had tried to keep himself separated from her, keeping himself to a separate tent.

And she had tried the same.

The last thing either of them needed to do was give in to the wanton urges from before, which had gradually worn off by that point. They needed to focus on the road ahead; they needed to figure out where they were going, what they were going to do- what their plans were from there on out.

They didn't make it more than an hour.

Those memories as a whole were mostly a blur to her, but Jade could remember how her fingers had dragged themselves down his back; she could remember how good Kung Lao had felt between her legs, how good he had felt inside of her. Three days worth of pent up frustrations had felt so easily satisfied, so easily pleased in such simple touches. She remembered how she had dragged her lips, how she had dragged her teeth over him- barely even acknowledging the reformed skin underneath her tongue.

Hands had found all the soft places that had remained untouched by scales.

By the end of it, her body had ached in places that didn't feel like they had existed before then.

By the end of it, they were both exhausted and bleeding from the constant actions between them.

They were half-emotional, half-ashamed by the rush of events.

But they were satisfied nonetheless.

Despite very little sleep, and aching bodies, the next day had found them up early and already setting out once more.

They had both pretended that what had happened the night before hadn't happened at all.

They had had more important things to focus on.

That was where their learning curve in running, in hiding and evading, began to start.

They had stayed in the Drum Canyon, moving from one abandoned camp to the next, lingering where they could to regain their strength. What had felt like a lifetime in a caged cell had robbed them of their former strengths, of their former endurance. The new blood in their bodies had taken them this far in the beginning, but their physical strength could only allow so much.

When they heard soldiers on the horizon, they had been forced to move down into the Kuatan Jungle.

The overgrown jungle had been easier on them than the desert; its moist environment felt better on their skin.

They only managed a few weeks there before Shao Kahn's soldiers moved into it and forced them out of hiding.

It had been the first time they had realized that Shao Kahn was involved in their capture now.

Perhaps in an attempt to use them against their Earthrealm allies; perhaps in an attempt to use them as leverage to convince Earthrealm to stand down.

They both agreed it would never come down to that.

They had managed to backtrack into the Drum Canyon without being seen and were forced to cross over onto Shokan land to prevent getting close to the Outworld palace. That had been a dangerous trek, and a dangerous decision, considering that the Shokan at that time were informants to Shao Kahn.

Which was exactly how they were found then- and why they had to escape once more.

The Golden Desert had been a last-ditch effort for them.

The last chance for them to put a formidable barrier between them and Shang Tsung, between them and Shao Kahn.

And that was how they had found themselves here in the Great Swamp.

It had been two years since the Tournament.

And only six months since they had escaped.

They had only seen two months of peace so far, ever since they had decided to hide inside of the swamp lands.

Jade felt Kung Lao shift her around in his hold before she felt the gentle motion of him kissing the top of her head. She felt the smile that curled on her lips at the gesture before she worked herself loose enough to tilt her head back, tempting him with the motion- and feeling how Kung Lao fell for it as he pressed a kiss to her forehead now.

Only for him to fall further into temptation as he trailed his lips down to her own soon after.

It was a ginger touch, a subtle kiss.

Just enough to share the warmth of it between them.

"You know what happens if you kiss me like this," Jade remarked, teasing him, as she moved her hand from his shoulder and placed it against his jaw. She let her fingers curl against him and let her eyes settle on his own, letting herself find some comfort in the yellow rings that stared back at her.

Despite all the changes he had endured, she could still see the boyish charm in his smile, the boyish amusement in his expression.

"I haven't even started to kiss you like that," Kung Lao mused, just before he brought his lips to her own again; and again, he kept it short and sweet between them, just enough to let the heat of it still linger when he pulled away. "Do you want to know something I really shouldn't do?"

Jade felt how the words twisted about in her stomach.

She felt how the amused tone of his voice was enough to send a quick flash of heat to her face.

"Oh? And what exactly would that be?" she pressed regardless, as fingers gently moved to trace over the curve of his lips.

" _This_."

Kung Lao answered her with a single word, which was soon followed by the act of him hoisting her up into his arms before he pushed himself to his feet.

Jade dropped her hand back to his shoulder and squeezed it to hold on to him with the action, before she felt him start to move as he carried her back over to the fireplace once again. And in a fairly seamless motion, Kung Lao got himself down on his knees before he laid her out on the rug in front of the fire.

She felt how the knitted material was warm underneath her and immediately found herself unable to resist the full body stretch that called out to her.

A quiet groan escaped her lips as she did so, as she felt the firm pull that arched her back off of the floor.

"Ooh, you really shouldn't have done this," Jade spoke, chuckling softly as she slowly brought herself back down.

She looked over to watch as he laid down next to her.

"I know," Kung Lao replied, as he settled on one side so he could face her, before he moved to drape an arm across her midsection. "But we can afford it, so why the hell not?"

She moved a hand to rest on his arm before she turned to tuck her head against him.

And for a warm moment, Jade felt how two years worth of feeling safe in his arms had her still coming back to him.

How it had her still depending on him.

Although she was certain that Kung Lao felt the same way about her.

They were just two people believing that the other person was the one getting them through everything.

"Do you think we'll ever see the end of this?"

It was a question Jade had asked herself countless times over.

And it was a question she had yet to find an answer for.

"I don't know," she whispered, as she gently traced her fingers over his arm. "I wish I knew- or maybe I don't."

She only wanted to know the answer if it was fair, if it favored them.

It was the least that the universe, that the Gods, could give them.

But if the answer didn't favor them, then she didn't wish to know.

She would rather live in this single moment than ever know the truth. 


End file.
